Thill-tug.



PATENTED AUG. 14. 1906.

A. W. PETERSON.

THILL TUG.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 22. 1906.

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" construct and arrange the parts that they UNITED STATES PATENT FFIGE.

Specification of Letters Patent...

Application filed December 22, 1905. Serial N0n292.890.

Patented Aug. 14, 1906.;

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, AUGUST W. PETERSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Highland Park, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Thill-Tugs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in tugs or clasps to be used for supporting the thills or shafts of buggies and cabs on the sides of the horse which draws the same and for other like purposes and it consists in certain peculiarities of the construction, novel arrangement, and operation of the various parts thereof, as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a thill-tug which shall be simple and inexpensive in construction, strong, durable, and so made that it may be opened to receive the thill or shaft, which may be inserted longitudinally or laterally and afterward closed and looked around the same.

Another object of the invention is to so will be connected together so that none of them can be misplaced or lost.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention pertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe it, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a thill-tug embodying my invention, showing the parts thereof in the positions they will occupy when the members of the tug are locked together. Fig. 2 is a similar view, partly in elevation and partly in section, showing one of the positions the key will assume in the operation of unlocking the members of the tug. Fig. 3 is a like view showing another position the key will assume in said operation, and Fig. 4 is a View in side elevation showing the members of the tug unlocked and separated.

Like numerals of reference refer to corresponding parts throughout the different views of the drawings.

The tug proper comprises two curved members 10 and 11, which are pivotally connected together at their lower ends by means of a link or loop 12, to which one end of the belly-band 13 of the harness may be secured.

The upper end of the member 10 is provided with apertured lugs 14 and 15, which are sep- I arated and have pivotally secured therebetween on a shaft 16 one end of a tongue or strap 17, which has near its free end an open ing 18 to receive a pin 19, which projects outwardly from the upper portion of the member 11, so as to engage the opening of the tongue when the parts are in their locked positions, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the drawings. The upper portion of the member 10 is provided on its outer surface with a lug 20, in which is pivotally secured a loop or link 21, to which one end of the back-band or strap 22, which is connected to the saddle-harness, may be secured. The upper end of the member 11 is provided with two lugs 23 and 24, which are separated from one another and. have loosely located between them on a shaft 25 a key 26, which is cam-shaped and has a longitudinal slot 27 to receive said shaft. As is clearly shown in Figs. 1, 3, and 4 of the drawings, the front or upper portion of the key 26 is formed with a downwardly-curved extension 28 to lie over the pivoted portion of the tongue 17 when the parts are in their locked positions. Each of the members 10 and 11 is provided with an internal lining 29, of leather or other suitable material, to prevent said members, which are preferably made of metal, rubbing or marring the thill or shaft.

In order to open the thill or to separate its members 10 and 11, the key 26 is pressed upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 1 to thatillustrated in Fig. 2, when by turning it to the position shown in Fig. 3 it is apparent that the tongue 17 may be moved outwardly so as to disen age it from the pin 19, when said tongue wi 1 be free to be moved from under the key when the upper ends of the members 10 and 11 are moved from each other, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, thus permitting the shaft to be removed or inserted laterally.

While my invention is primarily intended to be used as a thill-tug, yet it is apparent that it may be employed as a clasp for other purposes and that it is susceptible of considerable modification without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, and for this reason I do not desire to be understood as limiting myself to the precise form and arrangement of the several parts of the apparatus herein set forth in carrying out my invention in practice.

Having thus fully described my invention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1'. The combination with two outward1ycurved members hinged together at one, of their ends, ofa tongue pivoted on the free end of one of said members and having an opening near its free end, a key movably mounted on the free end of the other memher, and a pin or projection on the last-named member to engage the opening in the tongue.

2. The combination With tWo outwardly curved members hinged together at one of their ends and each having on its free end a pair of lugs spaced apart, of a tongue pivotally secured at one of its ends between the lugs on one of said members and having an AUGUST W. PETERSON.

Witnesses:

CHAS. C. TILLMAN, M. A. NYMAN. 

